Rockets a step closer in their pursuit of Carmelo Anthony

Forward Carmelo Anthony is adept as a catch-and-shoot threat from anywhere along the 3-point line, but could be a defensive liability for the Rockets.

Photo: Gene Sweeney Jr., Stringer / Getty Images

This time, the Rockets’ pursuit of Carmelo Anthony is not a drill.

The Rockets moved a step closer to realizing their long quest to land Anthony on Thursday when the Oklahoma City Thunder dealt him to the Atlanta Hawks, who intend to waive Anthony to make him a free agent.

That move could lead to the Rockets landing Anthony as a free agent to team him with former Olympic teammates James Harden and Chris Paul and reunite him with Mike D’Antoni, his coach in New York for parts of two often difficult seasons.

Anthony would have to clear waivers to sign with the Rockets, but he could reach an agreement at any time, having met with officials from the Rockets and Miami Heat.

Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, vice president Gersson Rosas, owner Tilman Fertitta, D’Antoni and Paul, long a friend of Anthony’s, met with Anthony in Las Vegas this month. An individual with knowledge of the meeting said the Rockets remain optimistic they will be able to sign Anthony, though he is also considering a move to Miami, where he could play with another friend, Dwyane Wade, assuming Wade re-signs with the Heat.

Anthony, who considered the Rockets as a free agent in 2014 before signing a max contract to stay with the Knicks, agreed to waive the no-trade clause in his contract to allow the Knicks to send him to Oklahoma City last summer when a deal could not be reached with the Rockets.

After a difficult and disappointing season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Anthony last month opted in to the final season of his contract, worth $28.7 million.

Far over the luxury tax, Oklahoma City opted to move the contract, bringing back guard Dennis Schroder and forward Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot. Atlanta sent Mike Muscala to Philadelphia in the three-team deal with Justin Anderson going from the 76ers to the Hawks. The Thunder agreed to send a lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick to the Hawks to complete the deal.

Thunder saving money

The Thunder had sought a playmaker off the bench behind Russell Westbrook with Schroder available to fill that role since the Hawks’ trade for Jeremy Lin and selection of Trae Young in the draft, getting Schroder while fulfilling their goal to move Anthony’s contract. The moves will save the Thunder roughly $73 million in salary and luxury taxes.

Anthony, 34, is a 10-time All-Star forward and a seven-time All-NBA selection in his 16 seasons since leading Syracuse to the NCAA championship.

Anthony, 6-8, has averaged 24.1 points on 44.9 percent shooting with three teams in his career, but averaged a career-low 16.2 points with the Thunder, more than six points less than in his final season with the Knicks.

The Rockets envision Anthony playing at small forward and as a backup power forward, the position they hoped to have him play when they sought a deal with the Knicks and that D’Antoni thought ideally suited him in New York, among the sources of their disagreements in the 2011-12 season.

D’Antoni told ESPN last season that he resigned as Knicks coach when Anthony told management that either he or D’Antoni would need to leave. But according to multiple individuals with knowledge of the Rockets’ planning, D’Antoni had enthusiastically endorsed the Rockets’ pursuit of a trade for Anthony last summer and has again as Anthony moved closer to free agency.

Rockets have vacancies

Since the departures of small forwards Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, the Rockets had signed James Ennis, who could remain a candidate to start at the position with Anthony, if signed, potentially a backup at both forward spots.

The Rockets had chosen to try to land Anthony before Mbah a Moute’s departure.

The addition of Anthony would be a boost to the Rockets offensively after a Western Conference finals series against the Golden State Warriors in which they fell far short of their regular-season success. Anthony is adept as a catch-and-shoot threat from the 3-point line, both from the corners and on top, while bringing ability to get his shot the Rockets have lacked off the bench, especially in the frontcourt.

He could benefit from the Rockets’ offensive style, built around Harden and Paul’s playmaking and at a pace and with spacing that suits him better than the Thunder style built around Westbrook.

Vulnerable on defense

But he also would challenge the revival of the Rockets’ defense, built around a switching style that exposed Anthony’s lack of quickness defensively while with the Thunder.

That was especially true against the Rockets during the regular season and against the Utah Jazz in the playoffs, with both teams seeking to isolate him on switches against their brilliant one-on-one scorers.

But the Rockets have been steadfast over the past year that Anthony would bolster them in the Western Conference arms race.

Wherever he lands, Anthony is not expected to play the role he had as one of the league’s most unstoppable scorers. But the Rockets believe he has enough left to be worth the wait if this time they get him.

Jonathan Feigen has been the Rockets beat writer since 1998 and a basketball nut since before Willis Reed limped out for Game 7. He became a sports writer because the reporter that was supposed to cover the University of Delaware basketball team decided to instead play one more season of college lacrosse and has never looked back.

Feigen, who has won APSE, APME and United States Basketball Writers Association awards from El Campo to Houston, came to Texas in 1981 to cover the Rice Birds, was Sports Editor in Garland before moving to Dallas to cover everything from the final hurrah of the Southwest Conference to SMU after the death penalty.

After joining the Houston Chronicle in 1990, Feigen has covered the demise of the SWC, the rise of the Big 12 and the Rockets at their championship best.